Preview: Bulls at 76ers

Reuters

The Philadelphia 76ers already have set a franchise mark for futility and they're inching toward NBA history as they host the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday. The 76ers have lost a club-record 21 consecutive games â five shy of the NBA record set by the 2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers. They hope to snap the skid by knocking off the Bulls for the second time this season and locking up at least a share of the season series.

Philadelphia hasn't even been particularly competitive during the drought â 16 of the 21 losses have come by double digits and they've been outscored by an average of 18.1 points over the streak. "It's hard because of a competitive thing, but in relation to worrying about a record, we don't live in that world," 76ers coach Brett Brown told reporters. "I don't bring that to the locker room once." The Bulls have won six of the last seven meetings with the home team winning each of the first two matchups this season.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, CSN Chicago, CSN Philadelphia

ABOUT THE BULLS (37-30): The Bulls, who are fourth in the Eastern Conference, are chasing third-place Toronto and trying to hold off several pursuers for home-court advantage in a first-round series. Center Joakim Noah (12.3 points, 11.3 rebounds, five assists) has carried the Bulls to a 25-12 mark since the start of the new year, and they're trying to avoid their first back-to-back losses since Feb. 1 and 3. Forward Taj Gibson also has played a huge role, averaging a career-high 13.2 points and hitting double-digits in 24 of his last 28 games.

ABOUT THE 76ERS (15-52): Philadelphia beat Chicago 107-104 on Nov. 2 to cap its season-opening three-game winning streak, but that seems like an eternity ago. The 76ers have since traded away two of their top three scorers from that game (Evan Turner and Spencer Hawes) and a third starter from that contest, James Anderson, is day-to-day with a bruised quad. Point guard Michael Carter-Williams has been a bright spot, though, leading all NBA rookies in points (16.8), rebounds (5.8), assists (6.2) and steals (1.93).

BUZZER BEATERS

1. The 76ers have dropped a franchise-record 16 straight at home, tied for the second-longest streak in NBA history behind Dallas' 19-game home skid in 1993-94.

2. Chicago is 25-2 when it scores at least 96 points, while Philadelphia allows 110.7 points per game.

3. The 76ers have trailed by double digits in 55 of their 67 games and have allowed 100 or more points 59 times.